Friday, May 05, 2017

BLOG NOW ARCHIVED

Just a couple of quick reminders:

... and I will hopefully have links up (most likely in the side-bar) to my Facebook and Twitter history, just as soon as possible; all following a short period of rest ;-)


UPDATE: I do have both my Facebook and Twitter histories safely downloaded; and will eventually get them linked from this site ... I'll post a further update here, when that's all sorted.

Thursday, May 04, 2017

THANK YOU *so much*

That's it - for the first time in 18-years I'm no longer an Elected Politician.


THANK YOU *so much* to all those who have supported me :-))

Vote WIMBERLEY 1

Polling Day is here. Just a final reminder ;-)


Wednesday, May 03, 2017

Tuesday, May 02, 2017

Ways to vote; in person, by post or by proxy

Vote in person, by post or by proxy (for an 'emergency proxy' - do see below)


Most people choose to vote in person on the day of the election at their polling station. If you are not able to vote in person you can apply:

  • to vote by post
  • for someone to vote on your behalf, known as a proxy vote.

Council Elections will be held on Thursday 4 May 2017. To be eligible to vote in person at these elections, you must have registered by Monday 17 April 2017.

Postal voting: 
You need to apply for a postal vote if you want to vote by post.

If your address has changed since you applied, you will need to:


If you are resident in Scotland but voting from abroad, remember it will take time for your voting pack to reach you, and for you to send it back. If you are applying close to polling day, you may find it easier to apply for a proxy vote instead.

The last date for postal vote applications was 5pm on Tuesday 18 April 2017.

Proxy voting: 
If you are not able to vote in person or by post then you can apply to vote by proxy. This means you can ask someone to go to a polling station and vote for you. Your proxy can also apply to vote by post, if you apply early enough.

You must apply for a proxy vote in advance.  It is illegal for someone to vote for you if you have not been granted a proxy vote.

The last date for normal proxy applications was 5pm on Tuesday 25 April 2017.

Emergency proxy: 
If you have a medical or work emergency, you can apply for an emergency proxy up until 5pm on polling day:

Electoral Registration Office
17a South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh
EH12 9EB

Email:
Tel: 0131 344 2500
Fax: 0131 344 2600 
Visit: http://www.lothian-vjb.gov.uk/

Monday, May 01, 2017

A Green and Living City

My colleague Ian Perry, has drafted a short piece on 'A Green and Living City', which is for the Edinburgh Labour website --- I'll reproduce the text below, for those interested:

When Edinburgh Labour took responsibility for cleansing in the city from the previous
Lib-Dem/SNP Council, the service had gone through years of uncertainty with the threat of privatisation. After spending millions of pounds on this proposed change, with staff morale at an all time low, they abandoned the idea. Labour was left to pick up the mess.

Labour has over the past 5 years made the service more efficient, with resources going to the front line and a leaner management. This was recently recognized by Audit Scotland. Edinburgh was one of the top performing Councils, by reducing the cost per resident. 

Labour in Edinburgh’s aim is to reduce our waste, re-use and recycle. Our top priority is to keep our city clean, in all our
communities.

This Labour-led Council has taken action and implemented a Waste and Cleansing Improvement Plan and for example has:

  • reduced missed collections, with 0.17% of collections resulting in a customer complaint
  • changed charges for Special Uplifts for bulky items to £5 per item, resulting in a massive increase in the use of the service and a reduction in fly-tipping.

Edinburgh Labour pledges to scrap the bulky uplift charge altogether.

As for recycling --- rates continue to climb in the capital:

  • Increased recycling from both individual homes and on street facilities, which has resulted in 45% waste now being recycled.  We aim to increase this to 60%.
  • We send less waste to land fill, saving the city money.
  • A new food waste plant is operating and producing compost for the land; and clean energy.
  • A new residual waste plant is being built, which will mean no waste going to Landfill.
  • We have introduced new kerbside dry mixed and glass recycling collections to more than 140,000 households.
  • Waste recycled in communal packaging bins serving flats and tenements has risen significantly. 

Edinburgh Labour will further:

  • Aim for an 80% reduction in Trade Waste bin clutter, on our streets.
  • Continue the Trade Waste Team, to ensure businesses are responsible for their waste and not using residents’ communal bins.
  • Continue to invest in our staff by providing new staff facilities, new supervisors, new in-cab technology and recruiting permanent staff to the service. We want to continue to keep the service in-house, investing in our staff and service.
  • Continue the successful roll-out of the ‘Our Edinburgh’ campaign, to discourage anti-social behaviour like fly-tipping and littering.
  • Provide an additional night shift for mechanical street sweeping duties.
  • Launch the innovative trial of bin fill sensors, which ensures litter bin uplifts when needed.
  • Increase Environmental Wardens to deal with dog fouling, fly tipping and litter dropping.
  • Work with community partnerships, for example “Leither’s Dont Litter”
  • Increase barrow beats and continue to invest in the service in our communities.

Councillor Ian Perry
Edinburgh Labour's Planning Spokesperson